settlement of our town, let us glance for a moment at the early history of that territory into which these hardy settlers came.

The French early claimed all these lands by right of discovery and settlement, and the King of France had made a grant of them, under the name of Arcadia, as early as 1603. But the English also claimed the territory under the same right of discovery and settlement, and King James included it in his grant of North Virginia in 1604. For the next century and a half there was almost a continuous struggle to determine which of these powerful nations should control the land on which we stand today. For one hundred and fifty years it was doubtful whether the issue would favor France, and this would be New France, or whether England would in the end make good her claim and establish a New England. The fortunes of war favored first one and then the other,, and the land from which our town was later carved was alternately French and English soil.

In this long struggle the Indians usually took the part of the French, who had been most zealous in sending missionaries among them, and teaching them as a part of their creed, hatred of the English. The tales of heroism and bravery, of captivity and slavery, of burning houses and slaughtered colonists, of scalping knives and tomahawks, flint lock and cannon, forms one of the most thrilling parts of our national history. And this territory was the debatable ground. On the banks of the Androscoggin

lived the most dreaded of the Indian tribes, the Anasagunticooks, with their blood thirsty chief, who boasted in the Council Chamber of France, before the French King, that with his own hand he had slain one hundred and fifty English. In return for this great benefit the King immediately knighted him, and made him a nobleman.

There was no safe dwelling place in this country until Wolfe met Montcalm on the heights of Abraham, and the fortunes of war (or rather let me say, He who watcheth over all) decided that this country should be the possession of the great English speaking race.

Then for a few years there was quiet, and settlers flocked into the new land. Some found their way up the Androscoggin as far as Livermore on the east, and others up the Saco to Fryeburg on the west.

But soon the mutterings of another storm put an end to this tide of immigration. The storm broke, and this country was again the barrier between two contending armies, but now, alas, of one blood! Up through the wilderness marched brave Benedict Arnold, with the vain hope of capturing Quebec. Better had it been for him if he had fallen, as Wolfe before him had done, in the attempt. Finally after years of fighting, peace again settled upon a free nation, but heavily loaded with debt and with greatly impaired credit. "The paper currency which had been floated along by hope and credulity and buoyed up by a spirit of patriotism, sunk in value, all con

fidence fled, and the war-worn soldier reluctantly yielded to the course of law which took from him his last penny and left his family beggars. Heavy taxes were laid to pay the interest on the public debt, which the people could not meet, and for the payment of which their cattle were distrained and they were otherwise reduced to extremities."

This is no fancy picture from imagination, but the very words of one who lived through these times that tried men's hearts, and was himself a prominent actor in them, the man whose name this town bears. To escape these ills men were ready to emigrate to new lands and find new homes. The great Commonwealth of Massachusetts encouraged these new settlements. She most naturally turned to that immense tract of land "to Eastward" which she had acquired by purchase and conquest, which was then nearly in the state of nature, a vast wooded wilderness; only a thin barrier of towns hugged the sea coast and straggled a little way up the banks of the great rivers, not reaching across the southern border of our state and scarcely extending inland at all.

A land office was soon established in Boston and notice given that these wild lands would be offered for sale and soldiers' notes or the consolidated securities of the Commonwealth taken in payment. The State offered to any one desirous of settling upon these new lands 150 acres anywhere upon the rivers or navigable waters at the small price of one dollar

per acre. In any other portion of the vast domain the State promised to give 100 acres free to anyone who would clear sixteen acres in four years. This promise continued until 1784, and under it the first settlers came to this town.

Many companies were formed in different parts of the Commonwealth to purchase whole townships and promote emigration, hoping for great profits from the sale of lots. These companies petitioned the General Court for a grant of land, specifying the location. After the public survey the grant was usually made with certain restrictions. The Commonwealth prescribed that certain lots should be reserved for the first settled minister, grammar schools, and Harvard College, and sometimes other conditions were imposed on the Proprietors. These Proprietors were in most cases inhabitants of the same locality and held meetings to make arrangements for the opening up of their plantations and inducing settlers to enter upon the land. (Records of these meetings were preserved. *)

As early as January, 1781 a petition was sent to the General Court by Samuel Butterfield of Dunstable, Mass., and others, for land on the north of land petitioned for by Abijah Buck and others (now Buckfield), to the value of six miles square, “upon such considerations or for such sum as you in your wisdom shall think best for the good of this State, your petitioners being desirous of making a settlement on said land if granted, which would not only

* See Appendix A.

be a benefit to themselves, but to the community at large, and the wilderness become a fruitful field."

This is the first reference to Samuel Butterfield, from whom the plantation took its name. He was a native of Dunstable, Massachusetts.

This petition was not granted, the land had not yet been surveyed and no bounds could be given. But in 1785 John Jordine surveyed for the State land in this vicinity, including the present town of Buckfield, then called "No. 5," and the southern half of the present Hartford and Sumner, which he called "No. 6," containing 23,000 acres.

The next year another government surveyor, Samuel Titcomb, continued the survey northward, and ran out the lines of another township, "No. 7," lying just north of "No. 6," and containing 24,000

acres.

On June 22, of that same year (1786) a Deed of Agreement was made between the State's committee and Joel Parkhurst of Dunstable and his associates, by which the Commonwealth agreed to deed the townships Nos. 6 and 7 on payment of the price agreed upon.

On November 22, in the following year, 1787, this deed was given to Ebenezer Bancroft of Dunstable, and his associates, who are all mentioned. The shares were made one sixtieth, and the names of the Proprietors with the number of shares each owned is as follows:

Samuel Butterfield, 5. John Merrill, 6. Ebenezer * See Appendix, B